Taiwan forces host Qatar to alter FIFA World Cup app that listed Taiwan as part of China

FIFA World Cup host Qatar gave in to outrage from Taiwan officials and rectified an online application form that showed Taiwanese attendees as being from China. The host nation, last week, launched the Hayya card, an application for football fans that gives access to the country and games. Controversy arose as the initial version of the app, Taiwan was listed in the dropdown menu as ‘Taiwan, Province of China.’

After Taipei lodged a protest, the host nation rectified this and the listing was changed to being ‘Taiwan.’ Expressing their concern, Taiwan officials informed that identifying its citizens as Chinese ‘belittled the country.’ Following this, Qatar made necessary changes, which were later welcomed by the protesting Taiwanese officials.  

"Following the ministry's protest on Wednesday, 'Taiwan' replaced 'Taiwan, Province of China' on a dropdown menu on the Web site to apply for a Hayya Card, an identification card all World Cup spectators are required to obtain,” Joanne Ou, the spokeswoman for Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said. “We express our appreciation to the event organizers for their swift response in making the correction and safeguarding the rights of our nation's fans," she said as quoted by ANI.

Taiwan and China have been at loggerheads politically for over seven decades as the latter continues to consider Taiwan as part of its province. Several event organizers often obeyed China’s request to mention Taiwan as its province to avoid any issues with the country. Back in 2019, China had asked a list of multinational firms, including airlines, to relabel Taiwan on their public dropdown menus as part of the Chinese province. According to analysts, the latest FIFA flap is a similar case.

FIFA world cup 2022 in Qatar

It is pertinent to note that the upcoming World Cup in Qatar will be the first one to be held in an Arab country. It will only be the second tournament in Asia after the 2002 South Korea and Japan finals. Meanwhile, in the run to the tournament, Qatar launched the Hayya card, which serves as an entry visa for ticket holders at the sporting event. The 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup will begin on November 23 in Qatar, with the summit clash scheduled to be held on December 19. 

Image: AP